


In Which Chi-Fu tries to survive

by CherryDrop (LCoR)



Category: Mulan (1998), Mulan - All Media Types
Genre: Further Tags as Updates Come, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, In Character, Mystery, Period Typical Attitudes, Period-Typical Sexism, Sad, cult of personality, rating will go up in future chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-12-05
Packaged: 2020-01-12 12:54:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18446996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LCoR/pseuds/CherryDrop
Summary: There's always another side of the story.Always.





	1. Day 5

It had been nearly a week since training began, and all of Chi-Fu’s fears about Shang had been proven to be completely warranted. What kind of instructor forced his recruits to dodge  _ flaming arrows,  _ for heaven’s sake? Or breaking boards with their faces? Or making them climb up a pole with no sort of padding?  There was “grueling training regimen”, and then there were safety hazards so transparent it was almost insulting. 

“Tell me,” He asked snippily as Shang prepared the gauntlet, “What do you plan to do with one of these arrows misfires and the whole place burns down? What then?”    


Shang, as was his custom when Chi-Fu questioned his more...questionable methods, didn’t answer. 

“This isn’t any time for experimenting, Shang!” Chi-Fu continued, more loudly. If Shang thought he could get away with pretending not to hear him, then he would be proven wrong. “There are Huns advancing towards us even as we speak, and you are burning are potential soldiers alive!” 

"The point of this exercise is to teach them reflexes." Shang responded. "The huns won't be concerned about keeping them safe when they're on the field."  
  
"If there are any left to be sent out on the field." Chi-Fu pointed out.  “ _A_ _ nyone  _ with decent eyesight can see that this is not a good idea! I can and will write to the emperor about this-”

  
“Right!” Shang yelled. “It’s ready! Come along!” He gave Chi-Fu one last irritated expression, and then went to fetch the recruits, leaving Chi-Fu to himself. With Shang’s back turned,Chi-Fu sighed and rubbed his temples. 

He didn’t  _ want  _ to have to resort to writing to the emperor. He of all people knew his majesty had far more important things to do then dealing with some idiotic captain who thought he was being clever by nearly killing all his men before they even finished their training.

But when said captain insisted on his bizarre methods…Well, Chi-Fu had his trump card, and he wasn’t afraid to use it. Shang had brought this upon himself.  

What had his father said about him? Well versed in training methods? 

  
Had General Li gone  _ blind?  _

F rolled his eyes.   _ Perhaps. I never liked Li... _ -

**“NAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHHHH!”** A loud screech of pain suddenly could be heard from where the soldiers' exercise was going on. 

_  
_ Ah. Here it was. The inevitable. Shang had better have a good excuse ready for the trainee’s family when they found out their kin had been burned alive during a “routine” training exercise. 

 

***

When Chi-Fu arrived on the scene, the exercise had screeched to a halt. The recruits stood off to the side in various huddles, while Shang stood over the downed soldier (Chi-Fu recognized him be Yao, a recruit who had made himself known for his belligerent attitude and troublemaking tendencies), who, as it turned out, had  _ not  _ been burned alive afterall, however, by the looks of things, had taken a burning arrow straight to the rear. The thought was enough to make Chi-Fu cringe, but he managed to remain composed as he approached the captain.    
“Would you like to call me a medic?” He asked coolly. 

“It’s been done.” Shang answered in a clipped voice, not making eye contact. 

He beckoned Chi-Fu to kneel down. “He appears to be unconscious,” Chi-Fu remarked. 

“Obviously,” Shang answered.

The wait for the medics to arrive was long, silent, and painfully awkward, only punctuated by Yao's soft groans of pain. Chi-Fu was quite glad to have him carried away to be treated, even if it didn't quite do away with the awkward silence.

“Well, he’ll have quite a scar when he’s walking again.” Chi-Fu finally managed. “This is a very serious injury from a very, very, dangerous exercise.” 

Shang didn’t answer. 

  
“You know, it’s very childish to ignore me like this,”Chi-Fu continued. His remark was punctuated by a loud yell from Yao. It seemed as though the medics were having to remove the arrow. 

Chi-Fu wordlessly glared at Shang.

“I’m going to report this,” He tried. 

“A single soldier.” Shang mumbled. “A  _ single  _ soldier.”

  
“And you’re _lucky_ it’s only a single soldier!” Chi-Fu responded. "Your father said you knew your training techniques. Well, I want to know who approved  _this_ one."   


Shang didn't answer.

"Well?"  
  
Shang muttered something.

"Shang!"  
  
"Sir, this exercise is designed to teach the soldiers reflexes." Shang said. He flinched as Yao screamed again. "And...it has some flaws. But it is doing it's task, and I believe it is well worth the risks."  
  
And with that, he strode off without another word.

Chi-Fu narrowed his eyes.  From the moment Li had praised his son’s lineage,Chi-Fu had an inkling feeling that there would be trouble. Now with an actual injury on his hands, he had the chance to prove that, replace Shang with a _sane, competent, experienced_ commander, and actually be productive about winning the war. 

_ This is not over.  _

 


	2. Day 6

Five Days Earlier  

_“This camp is smaller then I expected,” Chi Fu remarked as he dismounted. “This hardly looks big enough to house a tenth of the imperial-”_  
_“Oh, no need to worry about that,” Li interrupted, ignoring Chi Fu’s visible shock at the general’s awful manners. Generals did not interrupt emissaries to the emperor. As a rule, nobody did, but as a general, (Despite being a brand new one-in Han China, generals were simply captains appointed to greater positions in times of war, and the title was removed during times of peace) Li really should have known better._  
_“You are indeed right.” Li continued, completely oblivious and unrepentant of his faux pas. The same arrogance that had politely (but bluntly) requested full authority over the situation from the emperor. If the urgency of the matter hadn’t required the emperor to take Li up on his offer, then Li would have gotten something very different from what he was asking for-perhaps a harsh admonishment, if he was very lucky. “This is only for the less trained men to get instruction.”_

 _Chi Fu laughed-a very fake, manufactured laugh that really did not denote mirth at all. “Is not at least one man from every family in the nation joining the armed forces?” General Li opened his mouth to interrupt again, but Chi Fu caught it and pressed on before he had the chance. “I would think there were more men in need of training.”_  
_General Li stared at him for a moment, then did something far worse then interrupting: He completely changed the subject._

_“Have a seat,” He said, beckoning to the tent, “Would you like a drink?”_

_“I’m not thirsty,” Chi Fu said in a very flat, unamused voice._

_“Neither am I!” Li answered heartily, after an awkward pause. “Shall we go over my battle plans?”_  
_Ah, yes-General Li’s battle plans. In the week and a half that had followed the emperor’s urgent orders to take actions against the Hun invasion, Chi Fu had (when not occupied with distributing conscription notices) attempted to contact Li to discuss them. Li had artfully remained just out of contact with the same sort of evasiveness he was displaying right now...now being mere hours (if not minutes) before Li departed._

_"Give me a moment to stretch my legs.” Chi Fu answered quickly. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but the true reason was to get a better idea of how many men the camp currently held. It was true Li was leaving shortly, but there was nothing Chi Fu could do with Li’s plans at this point. Li had quickly proven himself to be stubborn and slippery (a bad combination) and likely would rebuff feedback. And if Chi Fu vetoed his idea, then that would cause delays and revisions and correspondances...costing time that they could not afford to lose, in other words. That was what the emperor had said, and afterall, it was common knowledge that people like Chi Fu were not employed to guide the emperor away from bad or wrong decisions, but rather to even better decisions. Because, as everybody knew, the emperor was always right. Even, Chi Fu sucked in his breath and mentally stiffened his upper lip-even if it didn’t seem like it._

Yao proved to be rather unhelpful with Chi-Fu's goal, as he was simultaneously inclined to exaggerate the severity of his wound and downplay it.

He insisted that the arrow at brutally decimated his left leg, yet at the same time claimed that, given the chance, he would be able to get up and resume training without so much as flinching.

“Really.” Chi-Fu repeated dryly at the last claim.

“What? Ya got some sorta problem with that, sissy-boy?” Being injured had not tamed Yao’s coarse nature, nor his penchant for violence. Especially not his penchant for his violence, as a couple medics had learned the hard way when Yao was thrashing about with the arrow still buried in him.

Chi-Fu gave him a flat look. “I don’t believe you. Just last night, you were screaming in pain from being shot in your backside."

Yao looked insulted. "I didn't scream!"

"You did. We could hear you. This...training exercise, tell me more. Were you frightened for your life?"

" _No_ _!"_ Yao looked as though Chi-Fu had suggested he go out and stab his own mother in the back. "What do you take me for?"  
  
"Yao, I believe you to be the victim of a highly dangerous..."training" exercise. I need to learn more so that I can put things from rights."  
  
"I don't  _need_ any help puttin' things to rights!" Yao snapped. "Especially not from  _you_."   
  
"This isn't about you, so much as what happened. We can't have this going on. You've been rendered quite unfit for service as of the moment, and-"  
  
"I  _am_ fit!" Yao claimed. "Haven't I been telling you that?"  
  
"You were shot in the backside! I saw, for crying out loud!"

"Alright, alright, you wanna see how fit I am?" Yao asked. 

"Don't interrupt me. But yes, I would. If you really think you're capable in your current...state."

“Alright, I’ll show you how fit I am.” Yao answered, narrowing his eyes. “But I need you to c’mere.”

“Me?”

“I said, c’mere,” Yao said. “And how does this relate to you walking?”

But Yao insisted that Chi-Fu come closer.

 _What’s there to lose?_ Chi-Fu thought, and walked forward, closer, closer, Smack!

Yao’s punch sent Chi-Fu flying across the room, crashing into the tent wall and threatening to knock the structure  over.

Chi-Fu flopped limply down and lay for a few moments in shock, while Yao chuckled. “That’s how good I’m feeling, Fu-Fu!” He crowed. “That’ll teach you for ordering me around when I’m laid up!” He flexed his punching arm proudly. 

“Oh, so now you claim to be laid up,” Growled Chi-Fu as he slowly picked himself up from off the floor.

“Well, who are you to brag?!”

“What?! Alright, listen!” Chi-Fu ground out. “I don’t know how we got off-topic, but we are going back on topic! Now please, if you have any sense of decency, you will obey your superior at once and-”

“What’s all the ruckus?”

Chi-Fu turned to face Shang. “Captain! Your soldier here has, among other things, outright assaulted me-”

Shang turned to Yao. “What happened?” “He was harrasin’ me!” Yao exclaimed indignantly. “Getting in my face, askin’ me about my injury and treating me like I’m some kind of weakling!”

“I...see…” Shang glanced at Chi-Fu- “Chi-Fu, I think I need to bring out some more weights. The trainees are going to try the pole again.”

“Captain, I would like to describe in detail how this man here-”

“Attacked you?” Shang repeated, gesturing towards the bedridden and bandaged Yao. “In this state?”

“That’s one sensitive assistant you have there, captain!” Yao barked. “I was defending my good name and he gets all up in arms over it!”

“Tell me more,” Shang leaned in towards Yao. “Well, I was just resting up when this nosy little creep barges in and starts asking me about how much it hurt and if any other guys had had close calls with this-acting like we’re all a bunch of spineless idiots-you know how he is!”

As Shang nodded, Chi-Fu scoffed and left in disgust.

He knew where this conversation going, but with Yao being Yao and Shang being Shang, there was no use even trying.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am revising the story-I don't think it's necessarily out of character for Yao to attack Chi Fu (or anybody else, for that matter, if the fancy struck him) but I do think that I could have written it better. I'm slowly reworking it.  
> 10/19/2019: Added flashback at beginning of chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I had this chapter left in storage, so I figured I'd put it up for you, to get the attention of the lovely people who book marked this story so I can make my announcement.   
> So I am *not* cancelling this story. But I have been doing much writing and procrastinating and researching and I've come to the conclusion that this story was published prematurely. I will put up the revised version when it's ready. And I hope you like it.   
> And I hope you understand.   
> Thanks.

Mediocrity. Below standards.  
He was walking so fast, his mismatched teeth and jaw were clicking softly against eachother, sending little jabs of pain through his gums.   
That was what Chi Fu had expected to find when he watched the emperor appoint the semi-notorious Li Fung himself to lead the charge against the Hun invaders, and then Li had coincidentally chosen his son to captain a portion of the troops, all by himself.  
I’m going to try again, he thought to himself. A different recruit, though. Or a medic-  
For what he saw was...hardly mediocre. But he would take mediocre any day over this.  
This...what Shang did...flaming arrows...board breaking exercises...defied all description.   
But the most frightening part was that it wasn’t everything. If only watching Shang was his only task. Chi Fu only had time to take notes on their morning exercises (some martial arts techniques involving bamboo) then there was the laborious task of transcribing his notes into a professional report. There were also camp finances to attend to, assets to take inventory of, and whatever Captain’s desk job that Shang wasn’t in the mood to do-and all needed to be transcribed onto parchment. And every single stroke needed to be perfect.   
When he found himself doing these things, Shang was doing in an attempt to “push the limits” was left to the imagination.

The all by himself part was also quite worrisome. A boot camp was meant to be overseen by more than two people, after all.   
I’m going to try again, he thought to himself. A different recruit, though. Or a medic-  
For what he saw was...hardly mediocre. But he would take mediocre any day over this.  
This...what Shang did...defied all description.   
But the most frightening part was that it wasn’t everything. If only watching Shang was his only task. Chi Fu only had time to take notes on their morning exercises (some martial arts techniques involving bamboo) then there was the laborious task of transcribing his notes into a professional report, his quick, efficient short hand into calligraphy fit for a king-literally. There were also camp finances to attend to, assets to take inventory of, and whatever Captain’s desk job that Shang wasn’t in the mood to do-and all needed to be transcribed onto parchment. And every single stroke needed to be perfect. One mistake might mean having to scrap the entire parchment and start over-as a consequence, making mistakes was not an option.   
When he found himself doing these things, whatever Shang was doing in an attempt to “push the men’s limits.   
It seemed unthinkable, for most commanding officers, for a boot camp to be overseen by one. (Chi Fu, much to his own consternation, didn’t really consider himself to be a leader in the camp-Shang didn’t listen to him enough) Surely every officer knew that-but then again, Li was the general who had a very persistent rumor-none of it confirmed, mind you-hanging around him involving a young scribe, some classified historical records, and a very large bribe...Of course anybody could actually prove the rumors, Li would be kicked out of the military faster than you could say ‘corrupt’. But his behavior was telling.   
It’s too much, he thought angrily. It’s not right. He was deeply irritated at just about everybody right now. Yao for punching him. Shang for bumbling his way right into the embarrassing (not to mention painful) situation Chi Fu was in right now. And of course, Li for haplessly heaping so much responsibility all on Shang for reasons unknown to anyone but him. (Not that it was hard to make a guess or two)   
At that moment, as he was stewing outside the medicine tent, waiting for Shang to leave so that he could set things straight once and for all, another tent caught his eye-General Li’s tent-that is, the place where General Li had Shang and Chi Fu in to share his battle plans-and who he had appointed as captain.   
Chi Fu took a step towards the tent. Perhaps he would find something in there...  
“Sir?”  
Chi Fu stood up straight.   
Glanced back. Saw who it was.   
Mentally steeling himself, he turned around to face the young captain.  
“Yes?” He asked coolly. If one listened carefully, one could almost hear a hint of resignation in Chi-Fu’s voice, the tone of a teacher dealing with a particularly slow yet particularly confidant student.  
Though, unusually enough, Shang didn’t seem to be all that confident. In fact, extremely unusually, Shang looked embarrassed.  
“Uh…”   
Chi-Fu watched as he fumbled for something to say.  
“What is it, Sha-ahem-Captain Shang?”  
Shang squirmed. “Um. Well. I was talking to Yao-“  
“I know you were.”  
“Yao told me-well, after going about you were-“ Shang gritted his teeth-“Asking questions aboutmyregimen-Yao bragged-I mean, let slip-that hereallydidpunchyoureallyhard. So...my apologies.”   
“Well. Apology accepted.”  
“Great.” Shang said.   
‘Great’. Ugh. Still, it was nice. So he pushed the corners of his mouth up a bit. And waited for Shang to see what Yao’s punishment was going to be.  
The silence continued.  
The corners of Chi Fu’s mouth were getting tired.  
“So,” Shang grinned awkwardly. “I’m...getting back to my men.”  
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”   
“Uh...Oh. Yao’s punishment.”   
“Argh!” Shouted someone for the medicine tent.   
“THAT’LL TEACH YA FER BRUSHIN’ UP AGAINST ME LIKE THAT!” Chi Fu and Shang both jolted as Yao’s voice blasted through the camp. “I’m injured, so that didn’t count!”  
“'Doesn't count?!' What does that even mean?” Wailed the first voice, presumably a medic.   
“I think he needs it,” Chi Fu continued.  
“Yes...how about, for every time he attacks someone, he does five push ups?” (This wasn’t the first time Yao had gotten violent out of turn...or even one of the first times, for that matter)   
“Mmm,” Chi Fu was thinking of something harsher. Of course Shang, who had his heart set on turning his men into the finest troops the world had ever seen, wouldn’t like that idea at all...he didn’t really put much stock into what Shang thought, but Shang, as captain, did hold the ultimate authority on what happened in camp, so he needed to be careful-as powerful as his trump card was, overplaying it might weaken its effectiveness. Of course, he thought, in a desperate attempt to convince himself, perhaps Yao wasn’t a severely troubled soul by nature, and just a rather immature man in need of a severe wake up call. He doubted it, though. Only time would tell.  
“He’s injured,” Shang brought up.  
“What?”  
“Yao.”  
“I know.”   
And of course they both knew that even when he was healthy and sound of body, he was constantly menacing all but a select few of trainees-particularly the weaker, less popular recruits who had a harder time defending themselves. Chi Fu was merely a slightly less likely target in a long line of victims. And while he was becoming slightly less of a nuisance during Shang’s training sessions, neither was truly sure whether he was growing more in empathy and obedience or just growing more sneaky.   
“Let’s think on this,” He suggested.   
“Hmph,” Shang didn’t seem to like the idea.  
“Humiliation could be effective. I'll leave it in your hands," I'll be watching you like a hawk, though...whenever I can. "Don't you have anywhere to go?"


End file.
